Sentencing delayed in SAU horse theft case MAGNOLIA (AP) — Sentencing has been delayed until December for a former Southern Arkansas University student who pleaded guilty to stealing horses from the school’s stables. Jaci Jackson pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of conspiracy to commit theft of property. Prosecutors claim that Jackson hatched a plan to steal the horses from the university, where she was on the rodeo team. The horses were discovered in Oklahoma — and one o...

Trial scheduled for Fort Smith man in shooting FORT SMITH (AP) — A January trial date has been set for a Fort Smith man charged in the shooting death of a woman as she rode in a van. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jackson shot into a van carrying seven people on Dec. 29, killing 21-year-old Aleya Criswell. Jackson has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $250,000 bond. The Times Record reported that Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Michael Fitzhugh has scheduled Jackson...

Death penalty sought in Conway slaying CONWAY (AP) — Prosecutors say they’ll seek the death penalty against a Morrilton man accused of shooting a man to death at a Conway motel. At a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said they will seek death for Lee Foster, who’s charged with capital murder in the June 16 shooting death of 23-year-old Quenton Alexander. Foster is also charged with first-degree battery after a second man was wounded in the shooting in the parking lot of a Motel 6. Aut...

Prosecutor reviewing facts in Ga. gym mat death MACON, Ga. (AP) — A federal prosecutor said Thursday that he is conducting a formal review of facts and evidence in the death of a teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in his high school gym. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said that if he uncovers sufficient evidence to warrant a criminal civil rights investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson he will ask the FBI to conduct it. “I will follow the facts wherever the...

US court won’t take up Mann bombingLITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Supreme Court indicated it won’t review the case of an Arkansas doctor sentenced to life in prison for plotting a bombing that nearly killed the chairman of the state’s medical board. The one-sentence denial was filed Wednesday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Randeep Mann. Mann asked the high court in June to consider his case, less than two months after he was sentenced to life in prison for the ...

Bond Hearings (Oct. 31, 2013)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear in Circuit Court. • Tony Ruiz, 24, failure to comply with sex offender registration — $15,000. A Russellville Police detective testified he received notification from another officer that Ruiz had moved from his listed address. When the detecti...

US court won’t take up Mann bombing caseLITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Supreme Court indicated it won’t review the case of an Arkansas doctor sentenced to life in prison for plotting a bombing that nearly killed the chairman of the state’s medical board. The one-sentence denial was filed Wednesday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Randeep Mann. Mann asked the high court in June to consider his case, less than two months after he was sentenced to life in prison for the ...

6 people shot dead in South Carolina domestic dispute GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man in a custody dispute with a onetime girlfriend broke into her parents’ home and fatally shot the woman, her parents and two children, the sheriff said. The man then killed himself. Investigators found the bodies of six people ranging in age from 9 to 51 when they responded Tuesday to a call from a man who said he was thinking about hurting himself. Greenwood County Sheriff Tony Davis identified the m...

Former teacher given 10-year term for sex assaultLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An ex-teacher at an all-girls school who had been sentenced to four months in jail for having a sexual relationship with a student was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday after admitting she ignored a judge’s order to not contact the teenager. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims, who initially suspended nearly all of a 15-year prison term for sexual assault, told Kelly O’Rourke that he had to come down “pretty hard” o...

Clown accused of child porn pleads guilty FORT SMITH (AP) — A Fort Smith man who worked as a clown has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography. The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas announced Monday that 48-year-old Thomas Harold Morgan pleaded guilty to the charge. Authorities said Morgan used his computer to download a picture of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Morgan faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. He ...

Lawyer: Man sentenced to death wins new trial LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas man who was sentenced to death for a 1997 double slaying won a new trial Tuesday, his attorney said. Judge Charles Yeargan granted a new trial for Timothy Howard during a court appearance in Ashdown, according to one of Howard's attorneys, Patrick Benca. Yeargan's decision comes after Arkansas' highest court ordered a new hearing in the case last year. The state Supreme Court sided in part with Howard's attorneys...

$200,000 bond set in kidnappingBond has been set at $200,000 for a man accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint. Elton Heflin, 48, appeared in felony bond hearings Monday before District Judge Don Bourne. A Pope County Sheriff’s Office investigator testified the agency responded to a call Friday afternoon of a disturbance involving a gun on Buttermilk Road near Atkins. While officers were en route to the scene, the call escalated and the complainant, who identifi...

FDA backs tight controls on hydrocodoneThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended new restrictions on prescription medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S. In a major policy shift, the agency said in an online notice Thursday that hydrocodone-containing drugs should be subject to the same restrictions as other narcotic drugs like oxycodone and morphine. The move comes more than a de...

Former Russellville resident charged in death of boy, 5A former Russellville resident has been charged with abandoning or endangering a child after a 5-year-old boy in her care died when he apparently shot himself with her gun. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said a judge on Wednesday arraigned 19-year-old Melissa Ringhardt of Vidor, Texas, and set bond at $250,000. Ringhardt is formerly of Russellville and attended Russellville High School. Investigators stated Ringhardt was baby-sitting John ...

Fayetteville AD accused of internet stalking FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — The athletic director at Fayetteville High School has been placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest this week on a felony charge of internet stalking of a child. Authorities accused Barry Gebhart, 50, of attempting to set up a sexual encounter with a detective posing online as a 14-year-old girl. Gebhart was arrested Tuesday after he arrived at a Rogers shopping mall for a meeting set up by undercover officers, ...

Suspect identified in weekend hit and runThe suspect arrested in a Sunday hit-and-run incident near Hector has been identified as Joshua Hull, 27, of Pope County. Hull is accused of running over his brother-in-law, Anthony Chisum, with his truck after an altercation between the two. The Pope County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release Tuesday regarding the incident, but did not identify either man at that time. Also on Tuesday, Hull appeared before Circuit Judge William Pearson, w...

Man arrested for woman’s death after house struck HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Authorities in Garland County have arrested a man in the death of an 87-year-old woman who died when a vehicle hit her house during the summer. Hot Springs police said Tuesday that 20-year-old Nickollas Roe left the scene of the Aug. 20 crash before police arrived. When officers caught up to him they administered a blood alcohol test, which registered 0.13 percent. The legal limit in Arkansas is 0.08 percent blood alcohol. R...